When links with the past are destroyed, there is a loss of opportunity to continue a way of life, to live in the place one’s parents and grandparents lived.
The exterior of Shifa hospital in Gaza City is seen on Nov. 10, 2023, amid ongoing battles between Israel and Hamas near the facility.
AFP via Getty Images
Benjamin Jensen, American University School of International Service
The Taliban and the Islamic State group are among the militant groups that have been known to use civilians as human shields in the past, in order to try to shift their opponents’ war calculations.
In a survey of 1,600 people from across Mosul, we asked what they thought of the millions of dollars being spent to reconstruct the heritage sites of the city.
Sennacherib – his face deliberately damaged in antiquity – presides over captives from the Levantine city of Lachish.
British Museum
Day 4 of our Understanding Islam series. Knowing the historical contributions of Islam and its influence on other faiths can help counter many assumptions about the religion today.
A spice merchant in his shop in Bab Al-Saray market during Ramadan in April 2021.
Ismael Adnan/SOPA Images/ZUMA Wire/Alamy Live News
The insurgents left Mosul in 2017 in a near total state of destruction. With little outside help, local residents are rebuilding their city and reclaiming their identity.
‘I am the law’: the self-proclaimed caliph of Islamic State, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, giving a speech in 2014.
EPA/Islamic State video handout
Attacks on churches and targeted killings of Christians began as Iraq descended into sectarian violence after the fall of Saddam Hussein.
A mural depicting Pope Francis on a concrete wall around the Our Lady of Salvation Church in Baghdad, in preparation for the pontiff’s visit,
AP/Photo/Khalid Mohammed
The events that followed the 2003 US invasion of Iraq started a cycle of violence against the country’s minority Christian population. The pope’s visit is meant to bring some ‘healing and comfort.’
A nine-year-old boy plays on his damaged street in Mosul, Iraq in this July 2017 photo. U.S.-backed forces have wrested Mosul from the Islamic State, and the terrorist group lost Raqqa, in northern Syria, last month. Nonetheless the Islamic State is using virtual information sessions to keep its members committed to the cause.
(AP Photo/Felipe Dana)
Despite the fact that the Islamic State is on the run, the terrorist group still manages to inspire, motivate and maintain the social identity and cohesion of its members. Here’s how.
A 1932 photograph showing the minaret of the Great Mosque of al-Nuri, Mosul.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C.
As Mosul rebuilds, its history is a reminder that people of many faiths lived in cooperation in the city. In the city was the Tomb of Prophet Jonah, venerated by Jews, Christians and Muslims alike.
Iraqis celebrate the recapture of Mosul from Islamic State.
Reuters/Wissm Al-Okili
While Islamic State might be taking significant blows, including the recapture of the key Iraqi city, there is no reason to expect the violent and radical group will disappear.
The remains of the University of Mosul destroyed during a battle with Islamic State militants, in April 2017. South Africa offers lessons in rebuilding.
Reuters/Marko Djurica
The Great Mosque of Mosul - with its iconic leaning minaret - appeared on one of Iraq’s banknotes. Its destruction by the Islamic State is an act of great symbolic importance.
There are many obstacles to successful prosecution, including obtaining evidence in a war zone and using foreign intelligence in court.
Mosul’s residents are caught between Islamic State’s brutal violence and the amassed firepower of the Iraqi armed forces and their international backers.
Reuters/Khalid Al Mousily
The tragedy of Mosul is that while Islamic State’s territorial project in Iraq is coming to an end, it is creating new problems that exacerbate the country’s existing challenges.
Associate Professor in Islamic Studies, Director of The Centre for Islamic Studies and Civilisation and Executive Member of Public and Contextual Theology, Charles Sturt University